Page 83 of The Casanova Complex

A trembling breath sweeps out of her as she clicks the trackpad before squealing. “It’s done. I did it. Holy shit, Bennett, I did it!”

“Fuck yeah, you did. One step closer to being a lawyer, Mer Bear.”

She glares at me, more playfully than annoyed, and bites her lip, gaze darting back to the computer. “I hope so.”

“Nah, I know so,” I say, the corner of my lip tugging up when she flashes me a devastating smile.

I fucking love that smile.

I slip my arm over her shoulder and give her a hug, pulling her close against me. “Proud of you.”

For a second, she’s tense, probably because she wasn’t expecting me to hug her, but I just couldn’t help it. I am so proud of her, and she deserves to hear it. But then she sinks against me and slides her arms around me.

“Thank you,” she whispers quietly, and for a beat, we stay just like this. Quiet, unmoving, just existing.

A moment of unexpected stillness I didn’t realize I even craved.

When she pulls back to look up at me, I feel the silence, and I clear my throat.

“Shit, uh, I didn’t realize how late it was. I should probably head out.” I shove my phone into my pocket and slide off the bed, turning back to her.

Merritt’s sitting on her knees, staring up at me with those molten amber eyes that make me want to lean in and kiss the fuck out of her. “What if you… didn’t?”

When my brow arches, she quickly adds, “I mean, what if you just stayed and watched a movie or something?”

She wants me to stay?

I’m trying not to stutter like an idiot, so I nod, lifting my shoulder nonchalantly as if I’m not secretly giddy over the prospect of her asking me.

For fuck’s sake. Play it fucking cool, Bennett. Chill.

The last thing that’s going to turn her on is you being an overeager fuck.

“I could. If you want?”

She nods. “Yeah. That would be cool.”

I have a game tomorrow night—fuck, I guess tonight now with how late it is—and I’ve got my rituals, but staying a little longer should be fine. I got more than my good luck kiss tonight, so I’m pretty sure it’ll cancel out.

I think. I hope?

I keep telling myself that as I climb back onto Merritt’s bed and settle in beside her.

I wait as she reaches over to her side of the bed and flicks the lamp off, blanketing her bedroom in darkness outside of the faint glow of the TV.

“Let me guess… Children of the Corn? Halloween? The Exorcist?” I say while she flips through the streaming app in search of a movie.

She tips her head back to look at me, a grin splitting her lips. “Nope.”

I lift a brow, and she shrugs. “Jennifer’s Body.”

Shocker.

I’m sure most guys would be overjoyed at watching anything starring Megan Fox, but I have zero desire to watch a homicidal succubus inhabit the body of a teenage girl.

Fuck, I hate horror movies.

But…